


red stitches

by ShiningDiamonds9



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Baseball, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, and they were ROOMMATES, gay!michael, jake is really bold, michaels hardcore pining, oh my god they were roommates, pan!jake, they probably kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 09:19:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19315234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShiningDiamonds9/pseuds/ShiningDiamonds9
Summary: Michael and Jake are college roommates decorating their shared space, and Jake has a lot of old photos. A familiar one caught Michael's eye.





	red stitches

**Author's Note:**

> i'm not a huge pins and patches person, but this was fun to write. this backstory hc i came up with came from a fic about the squad in gym class i'll write eventually.

"Jake, you have way too fucking many old pictures." 

Michael looked through the box they had. It'd been two weeks since he got the email, but he still couldn't believe that he and "Middleborough Athlete of the Year" Jacob Dillinger were roommates.

They were both going to the same college, but what are the chances.

"Yeah, a lot of those are from when I was little. When my parents had to flee the country, I kept them so I could remember when they cared."

Michael stopped taking out the pictures. That was really sad. Jake probably needed a hug, I mean, he spent most of the last two years living in an apartment alone for God's sake. 

He put the picture he was holding down. "Jake, get down here."

"Oh jeez, what did you find?" Jake said, only half joking. He slid off his new bed.

"Just gimme a hug, you need it, man." Michael seemed really sincere. "Even when I was kinda a loner, I still always had my moms. I can't imagine what it's like to have nobody."

Jake found himself suddenly pulled into a big hug. "Thanks, bro." Whether it was Michael just being really good at giving hugs, or Jake being sentimental, he found himself sinking in. "Damn, I needed that."

He grabbed one of the pictures on the floor and jumped back on his bed. He stopped for a minute "Yo, can I tell you something?" 

Michael thought that sounded ominous, especially from Jake. He didn't know Jake to be the sentimental type, but then again, what did he know?

"Yeah, sure, whatever man." He tried to sound as casual as possible. "Eh, nevermind. I'll tell you another time." 

Guess Michael didn't have to worry. He wasn't going to press Jake for details, but it seemed a little off for him to be like that. Instead, as Jake had gone back to putting up the pictures, he let it go.

He kept taking them out of the box until he came across a familiar one. It was a rounded ellipse frame, almost pure white and had lines with red stitches. It was a photo of Jake's baseball team, presumably from elementary school.

"Oh, you found that. It's embarrassing." Jake jumped down to grab the picture from Michael. "Man, how old was I? 8."   
If Michael hadn't noticed before, Jake had a sentimental look in his eyes. Almost sad, but nostalgic. It was really pretty. He was zoning out again, wasn't he. Shit. 

Jake pointed at a familiar face. "Y'know, that one kinda looks like you." Michael's heart stopped. He knew that boy very well. "I think his name was Michael too. Ironic, huh?" Yeah. The boy's name was Michael.

"That's funny, yeah." Michael said, blankly. "You alright man? You sound dead." Damn. Guess he wasn't convincing enough. Something seemed to click in Jake's brain. "That was you, wasn't it." 

If Michael had the emotional energy to lie, he wasn't planning on using it. He stumbled his words a bit "Y-yeah, it was."

"So, you were the one who quit? Didn't like it?" he asked. Jake seemed like he was trying to be gentle about it. 

Michael knew why he quit. He had felt like he couldn't match up to the other boys there. He was, and still is better at video games than baseball. His moms had persuaded him to do it for a month, and then he finally quit. He didn't like baseball that much anyways. 

"Yeah, just wasn't for me." he responded. "You were actually pretty good at it, and you were always really nice to me." He wasn't. Jake had been much better than him at sports, even back then.

"Not as good as you, you were amazing, you are amazing." Shit. Did he say that out loud? "Mell, you're just as great. If you think you're not, let's go outside and prove it."

Excuse me? Did he just say prove it?  
"Excuse me?"

Jake gave him a sarcastic glare. "You heard me. If you think you're so bad, let's go outside and you can prove it. There's a ball in my bag, we both could use a break anyways." 

He was right about one thing, Michael did need a break. Not that he was good at baseball. "Alright, fine, let's go." 

The boys headed outside to an open area by the dorm buildings. "Why don't we just throw it back and forth," Jake suggested. "Maybe get to know eachother while we're at it?" That couldn't be so bad, right? He had to spend the entire year living with Jake, and even though they were mutual friends after all the SQUIP drama, they never really knew eachother. 

Jake threw the ball at him. "I once did gymnastics, because it was technically a sport." Imagine Jake in a leotard for a second. Michael felt his face warm up. Wait, don't do that. 

Michael joked. "Wow, the masculine Jakey D in a leotard?" "Yeah, man, there's probably a picture somewhere." Michael smiled. "Good to know."

He threw the ball back at Jake. "I'm very gay, if the patch doesn't tell you." He pointed to his hoodie. Jake tossed it right back at him. "In that case, I'm very pan." 

Michael dropped the ball. Jake gave a confused look, but in a friendly way. "What, are you surprised?"   
Michael grabbed the baseball off the ground. Honesty is the best policy, he guessed. "Yeah, a little."

Jake laughed in that handsome way he does. "Well, it's true." He threw the ball again. "I used to have a crush on Keanu Reeves, but that all died, especially with the SQUIP stuff." 

Jake was ready to throw it back. He smirked in a way that says 'I'm up to something, and you're about to find out.' Michael wondered what he had in store. 

"I think I still might have a crush on you."  
Michael missed catching that ball completely. Actually, he froze entirely, because Jake Dillinger liked him. "Mell?" Jake Dillinger, the pretty boy that he'd played baseball with, and then never talked to again liked him. "Mell, you okay over there?" The kind boy that he was just tossing a baseball with, to try and improve his self esteem.

"Mell!" he heard Jake yell, snapping him back into reality. Just barely.  
"Yeah, sorry, I'm alive." he managed to get out.

Jake looked a little concerned. "Are you alright, was I too bold there?"

"I'm good, it's all good, you're good." Dammit, Michael. Still thinking out loud. Jake flushed. "Do you wanna... go back inside maybe?" Michael nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great." 

The boys headed back up to their dorm, and Jake flopped on his bottom bunk bed. Michael had gotten there first, and obviously claimed the top. Both of them wanted the space, and were fine with this.

Michael sat up next to him. "So, you like me?" Four words with a lot of meaning, and no determined tone. Michael didn't know if he should be excited or scared. 

"Yeah. You saved the show, you generally seemed like a nice guy after too. Even with that, you were nice to me as a kid too. You're also really pretty." 

"T-thanks." Michael quietly muttered.

Jake started to open up a little more. "I wrote your name down for roommates, so I could talk to you more."

Michael found that funny. He'd done so for almost the same reason. "You're really pretty too. I put you down too, because you're the only person I know going here. Thought we could get to know each other too." Both of them were blushing, now.

Jake had that same mischievous grin from earlier. "Can I do something?" he asked. Michael had a hunch, based on TV and movie knowledge. He wasn't going to tell him no. "Y-yeah, sur-" but he couldn't even finish that because he felt lips.

Jake Dillinger's lips. On his. And they were still there. Michael starting thinking to himself. Maybe this year without Jeremy wouldn't be so bad. He felt the raised red stitches from the ball still in his hand. Maybe baseball wasn't so bad either.

**Author's Note:**

> i just realized the hcs i have between michael/jake and rich/jake contradict, and so whatever, i guess. i'll just use whatever works for the story bc whatever.


End file.
